denotes premium content | Jan 9 2009 Feature
posted 24 Jan 2001 in Volume 6 Issue 2
PTO - PGO:What difference does a name make?
By Ginny Jenkins
It has just been announced that the Public Trust Office will indeed cease to exist on 31 March 2001 but that services for people without capacity will arise phoenix-like on 1 April as the Public Guardianship Office. The PTO will become the PGO - the T is exchanged for a G ... Given the history of the PTO there will be many who question the difference that the change of a word will make. After all, we know that the staff will be the same and indeed the office will still be at Stewart House for some time.
However the single word probably represents one of the greatest attempts at change a statutory organisation has ever made. It is as if it has really turned itself on its head and is attempting to see the world from a completely different angle. The change in perspective from keeping money in trust to having guardianship over an aspect of a person's life is fundamental. In future the focus of the PGO will be facilitating the individual to benefit from their money and adding value to their lives rather than just policing expenditure. Having made this decision the Office now has an implementation timetable for gradual change predominantly between now and October 2001 and at the latest meeting of the Consultative Forum earlier in December, the key milestones were announced.
The PTO will become a much flatter organisation where casework will be carried out in teams with responsibility for an area of the country, rather than the current system where a worker is responsible for part of the alphabet. This will allow for much more flexible working and enable work to be carried on while someone is off sick or on holiday. The teams will be split into those who are working to meet the needs of the customers and other teams which will provide service delivery to support those working with the customers. Nick Smedley, Acting Chief Executive of the PTO has recently visited Canada and has been very impressed by the Guardianship services in British Columbia. Here the customer services often employed social workers while the support services included people with accounting qualifications. PTO staff who wish to will be transferred into the new organisation on 1 April. Their posts will be supported by the right training for existing staff and there will probably be some external recruitment as well.
It is probable that the PGO will continue to be an executive agency (as was the old PTO); however, as with all executive agencies, it is likely to have a much closer link with the relevant government department. There may well be an advisory board chaired by the Lord Chancellor or a minister and there will be revised and appropriate performance indicators. [Until late 1999, one of the more extraordinary aspects of the PTO was that while it was obviously failing its clients, it actually met all its performance indicators ...]
February 2001A major difficulty in this modernisation process has been the holding of all client information as paper records. The information systems requirements for MERIS (Mental Health Renaissance Information Supplier), the proposed computerised system will be decided and  the procurement process begun.
April 2001
The rationale of making major changes on All Fools' Day has never been fully understood but in spite of - or maybe because of - that, many of the most significant changes are starting on that date. Two of the other functions of the PTO, Court Funds and Trusts will transfer to the Court Service and the Official Solicitor's Office respectively.
Trials will start of a new accounts collection process. This will remain a function of the PGO but new easier to use forms are currently being designed with the assistance of the Inland Revenue. The process will be phased during 2001/2. The speed of transition will depend to a certain extent on the delivery of the new computer system, however there are intentions to eventually offer 'smart' forms which can be filled in and returned on line.
The PGO will also continue the move to be the receiver of last resort in as few cases as possible. Early analysis of their current cases suggests that the PTO has been appointed as receiver in many cases where in fact there was a family member or family lawyer who might have been prepared to undertake it.
In looking to encourage others to become receivers, a new receivership panel for professional receivers will be established. While it is anticipated that at least initially it will be dominated by solicitors and accountants, there will be the opportunity for anyone such as people from the voluntary sector to be put on the panel. It is probable that the recognition will be for a finite period, but re-registration will be possible and it will be the individual who is recognised not the organisation they work for.
The new 'Needs Assessment and Visiting process' will also be started. It is intended that in future the visits, which will become an integral part of the service in future, will have the clear purposes of discussing with the end user how things are progressing as well as being able to identify first hand how the process is going. It will also be an opportunity to meet with the receivers. It is planned to increase the number of visits from 2,000 in 1999 to 6,000 by the end of 2001.
As well as routine visits, additional visits will be triggered if there is any cause for concern. The team of visitors has just been increased from six to 15 and more are likely within the next 12 months. The PTO/PGO is keen to have as wide a range of visitors as possible though it is thought that the skills profile will require experience within the mental health field, well defined interviewing and interpersonal skills together with good assessment skills. Desirable skills will include knowledge of the Benefits Agency, the PTO/PGO and the needs of individuals who lack capacity from minority ethnic communities.
During the rest of 2001 through to 2002It is anticipated that the current PTO offices in Kingsway will be sold and the service moved to offices which while still within London are a little less central. Easy access for personal visitors is regarded as very important and it is likely that there will be a central London venue for meetings at the Lord Chancellor's Department in Victoria Street. Hearings of the Court of Protection may move to one of the High Courts. There are also plans for regional meetings either of a general nature such as meetings of the receivership forums or specific ones about individual clients. It is anticipated that this regional presence will be more substantial following the probably passing of mental incapacity legislation in 2002/3.
Once relocation is completed it is hoped to have the computer system fully operational by the end of March 2002, with the change programme being completed by June 2002.
The senior management at the PTO are all too aware how the Office is currently perceived and are open about the fact that there is a long way to go to achieve the standards they are setting themselves ... If it lives up to its new name, the Public Guardianship Office will indeed demonstrate what a difference a name can make.
Changes of such magnitude are difficult. The PTO/PGO has set itself a tremendous task. The great challenge which now exists is that - the programme for change over the next two years having been worked out, this now has to be fused with the current work. The senior management at the PTO are all too aware how the Office is currently perceived and are open about the fact that there is a long way to go to achieve the standards they are setting themselves. However it now looks as though there is a real chance of getting there. If it lives up to its new name, the Public Guardianship Office will indeed demonstrate what a difference a name can make.
Ginny Jenkins, Chief Executive of Action on Elder Abuse and a member of the PTO's Consultative Forum
